...HUMN432 Week 6 Assignment: Final Draft of the Paper Technology: The Invention of Gunpowder Professor: Adam Ravalovich August 12, 2011 Title: The Invention of Gunpowder A. Introduction: The invention of gunpowder was one of China’s four greatest inventions that made a significant contribution to Chinese culture. Gunpowder in Chinese is called “huo yau”, meaning flaming medicine. The use of gunpowder gave the Chinese a greater ability to protect them from enemies and to conquer and control others. Although fireworks today are used as entertainment, the Chinese used it to scare-off enemies in the time of war. Chinese firearms, fireworks and gunpowder were also popular items of trade along the Silk Road to Europe. As we can imagine this invention had a profound effect on human history and although gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, it gave rise to the powerful western world while it inevitably left China and the Eastern World behind. B. Description of the Chinese Culture (Brandy Miller) 1. Chinese Society: Understanding a people's culture exposes their normalness without reducing their individuality. There are many different realms of Chinese society. China is well known for its centuries of traditional values, customs and beliefs. These beliefs are deeply linked with the language, religions and collective values which have always been the center of traditional festivals, customs and everyday life of man as a collective in harmony with nature...
Words: 4816 - Pages: 20
...Chinese Gunpowder Despite the innocent beginnings of the substance known as gunpowder, its volatile nature caused it to rise to prominence on the world stage as a new development in weapon technology. Gunpowder originated towards the end of the Thang dynasty in the the ninth century when the first reference to the mixing of saltpeter, sulfur and carbonaceous material exists. In a Taoist book there is an advisory against the mixing of these substances because the result could singe beards and destroy buildings being worked in. (Kelly 16) Alchemy contributed three critical elements to the fire drug which were purification and the process of observation and experimentation. Chinese alchemists labored to expiate the adulterations in the mixture because of the adverse effects they could have on the combustion reaction. Saltpeter became the most essential element of the fire drug. Due to the large success of gunpowder in warfare, the Chinese banned the exportation of saltpeter and sulfur to prevent the spread of technology. This resulted in gunpowder becoming a state monopoly. The invention of gunpowder evolved into the first uses of a portable firearm, a predecessor to the modern day handgun. The Chinese held a belief that warfare was best from a distance. (Ross 1) The unit forms salts such as potassium...
Words: 1349 - Pages: 6
...In creating gunpowder weapons, European engineers took a Chinese innovation and made a deadly weapon of war. From the start, this was as much about artillery as handheld weapons. Artillery has changed dramatically over the years. Some of the earliest records of gunpowder artillery are found in the 14th century, and as far from China as they could possibly be and in the hands of English armies at that. An English manuscript of 1327 shows an early depiction of artillery, which would then see use on the battlefields of the Hundred Years War. Cr?cy (1346) may have been decided by archers, but it was remembered by many participants as the day they first heard the cannon?s roar. Hard to move due to their weight and dangerous to use due to a tendency...
Words: 1411 - Pages: 6
...silk. today china is still the main producer of silk. Ancient alchemists in China tried to discover an immortal elixir that grants the gift of immortality. Instead of immortality they discovered gunpowder which is a combination of saltpeter charcoal and sulfur. This mixture is known as potassium nitrate. During the Tang Dynasty (850 AD) this invention was used to make fireworks and signal flares before being adapted for military. The English translation for the Chinese word gunpowder is fire medicine. unique material and no other clothing material is comparable. In order to cultivate silk it takes an average of 24-28 days for a silk worm to become an adult and make a cocoon. Silk harvesters will use straw to pick up the adult silkworms then unwind the cocoon. The cocoons must be heated to kill the pupae or a moth will grow from the pupae and destroy the silk. An interesting fact about silkworms is one cocoon can produce about 1,000 meters of silk. After china mastered this sophisticated technique the west traders were willing to pay gold for the same weight as silk. today china is still the main producer of silk. Ancient alchemists in China tried to discover an immortal elixir that grants the gift of immortality. Instead of immortality they discovered gunpowder which is a combination...
Words: 372 - Pages: 2
...It is widely accepted by most historians that the Chinese produced a solid fueled rocket around 1045 AD. This rocket was then used against the Mongols during the defense of a Kai-fung-fu, a city in China, in 1232. It was a solid fuel arrow powered by gunpowder. These very early rockets probably contained black powder as the propellant (fuel). A form of gunpowder was the earliest solid rocket fuel. China, in the late second century BC provides us with the earliest recorded mention of gunpowder. Bamboo tubes, filled with saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal, were the first form of solid rocket fuel. The bamboo tubes were tossed into ceremonial fires during religious festivals. It was hoped that the noise of the explosion would frighten evil spirits....
Words: 1178 - Pages: 5
...According to Medieval Life and Times, The trebuchet dates back to before the Middle Ages believing to be invented in 300 B.C. China. It was brought to Europe during the middle ages. (Alchin) However, Byzantium and Middle Eastern armies made use of the trebuchet design during the 6th century (Farrell). The term “Trebuchet” derives from French origin. They used it exclusively and are responsible for introducing it to the English when they used trebuchets and other siege weapons in the attack of Dover castle (Alchin). Design Ideas The image above was used to allow the group to have a sense of how big the trebuchet was going to be for this lab. We did not use it as the initial design, instead it was used as a starting point. We chose this design because of the size and the idea of the trough was helpful in pinpointing accuracy. Work We began with the base which consists of four blocks with a flat board on top creating a platform. One support on each side would hold the axle from which the arm would swing. After cutting the arm we realized that the supports were too tall and would have put more stress on the axle when the arm swung. After that we reduced the length of the arm because we thought it would perform better. The trough was nailed to the platform with one nail out of the hole in order to change its direction of fire and in regard with safety, a trigger pin soon followed, it could allow a person to launch the projectile at a safe...
Words: 461 - Pages: 2
...emphatic actions towards the problems. For example with the Hampton Court Conference which was developed from the Millenary Petition, James was willing to listen from their standpoint which showed him to be much understanding of the circumstances. Even though little change was brought to the table, James was able to publish the common prayer book in 1611 which pleased many of the Puritans. Furthermore, James’ response to the Gunpowder plot was abstained in juxtaposition (in contrast) with his predecessors. This pursued a balance within the church and illustrated James’ disposition for reconciliation. Moreover, his appointments also portrayed his emphatic ways to solve religious divisions. For instance his appointment of Puritan, George Abbot as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1611 which was the most prestigious positon of the church. His appoints demonstrated a state of orthodoxy within the church. On the other hand there was a threshold to James’ success in an endeavour to appease everyone as he did displease others. His benevolence with the Catholics after the Gunpowder plot had baffled Parliament as James’ actions were less...
Words: 433 - Pages: 2
...Grant Seamster 3/20/12 Walter Lowe The Hollow Men: Headpiece Filled with Meaning Out of madness springs The Hollow Men, one of T.S. Eliot’s critically acclaimed poetic masterpieces. This poem has been analyzed over and over, and is so full of references to texts that it can be confusing to find a launching point. Just like most things in life, the beginning is a good start. T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended Harvard, and went overseas to England for graduate school. It was here that he settled down, becoming a banker, and more importantly, writing poetry (Nobelprize.org). In the early and mid-1920’s, Eliot suffered from numerous nervous breakdowns, and during one of these breakdowns in 1925 the poem The Hollow Men was written. Using the archetypal literary school of criticism we will magnify the archetypes of hopelessness, desperation, misery, and despair throughout the work. The archetypal school of literary criticism determines a text’s meaning using cultural and psychological myths. Commonly used symbols such as crucifixion or the snake serve as a marker to delve deeper into the reading. Carl Jung, whose theory of a “collective unconscious”, has been accredited with founding this school of literary criticism. This Jungian theory claims literature imitates the “dream of humanity”, not life. Archetypal criticism splinters from the Formalist or New Criticism schools of literary criticism by approaching the work in the context it is read in, instead...
Words: 1626 - Pages: 7
...Robert Catesby and others in the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament, as a protest against the anti-Roman Catholic laws and was known to be Britain’s greatest conspirators. We celebrate every 5th of November by throwing a doll replica of Guy Fawkes onto the bonfire to commemorate his failure to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But did he actually attempt to blow up Parliament and James I? Is it right for us to disrespect him every year by burning a replica of him? Is he Guilty or Innocent? We do know that James’ chief minister, Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury, hated Catholics and saw them as a constant source of trouble. Cecil also feared that there was a chance that James would be lenient with them during his reign and this he could not tolerate. Cecil wanted to remove Catholicism from England as he saw it as a threat. We know that James was terrified of a violent death; his childhood in Scotland had been fraught with danger including being kidnapped as a boy. What better way to get James to severely persecute the Catholics in England than to get him to believe that they had tried to kill him in this very violent manner? The government had power over gunpowder in this country and it was stored in places like the Tower of London. How did the conspirators get hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder without drawing attention to themselves? Did they get help from the government? If so than at least someone would now about the plot. How was the gunpowder moved across London from the...
Words: 1347 - Pages: 6
...while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Fawkes was born and educated in York. His father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic. Fawkes later converted to Catholicism and left for the continent, where he fought in the Eighty Years' War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch reformers in the Low Countries. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England but was unsuccessful. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England. Wintour introduced Fawkes to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters secured the lease to an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and found Fawkes guarding the explosives. Over the next few days, he was questioned and tortured, and eventually he broke. Immediately before his execution on 31 January, Fawkes jumped from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding the agony of the mutilation that followed. Fawkes became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in Britain since 5 November 1605. His effigy is traditionally...
Words: 269 - Pages: 2
...In the 1600s people believed witchcraft was real. The people of the 1600s had certain ways in which they believed helped tell whether someone one was a witch or not. One method was tying a rock to them and throwing them into a river and if they float they’re a witch. King James I was the son of Queen Mary. He was descended through the Scottish kings from Robert the Bruce, and the English Tudors through his great grandmother Margaret Tudor sister of Henry VIII. His parent’s marriage was short-lived and Darnley was found murdered 8 months after James was born in June 1566. His mother married again, but in 1567 was forced to renounce the throne of Scotland in favour of her infant son. James became King James VI of Scotland aged 13 months in July 1567, and was crowned at Stirling. Mary fled to England where she was eventually executed following Catholic plots against Elizabeth I in 1587. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of England's Parliament on 5 November 1605, as the prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state. Catesby may have embarked on the scheme after hopes of securing greater religious tolerance under King James had faded, leaving many English Catholics disappointed. His fellow plotters were John Wright, Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Guy Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, John Grant, Ambrose...
Words: 291 - Pages: 2
...Gunpowder has greatly changed sieging. It has changed how sieges were fought and defended. Others have also been influenced to become humanistic thinkers because of gunpowder. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate the effects gunpowder has brought on how sieges were fought and defended against and how it influenced others to become humanist thinkers. Gunpowder has changed how sieges were fought. Before gunpowder, sieges were fought differently. They would mostly use one of seven tactics. Bombardment, Trenches, Tunneling, Starvation, Germ Warfare, Assault and Negotiation. Each tactic had its own benefits and downfalls, for example, Germ warfare, a tactic where diseased corpses would be thrown behind enemy walls, could get the attacking...
Words: 882 - Pages: 4
...I attended the Dishman Gallery on the Lamar campus and found a piece of art that I thought would be good for this paper. The artist’s name is William F. Witherington, born in London, England 1785. The piece I would like to talk about is called Guy Fawkes Day, which is an oil painting. Oil was the main type of medium that most artists were using during the time frame of William F. Witherington. The romantic period had just started in the beginning of the 1800s. You can see how this reflects in the painting by the use of oil as the medium and the way he tries to make the people and surroundings look realistic. He uses warm colors in the center of the piece and lighter colors around the center and a blue cool color for the sky. The name of this artwork is Guy Fawkes Day which is a holiday celebrated in England. A man named Guy Fawkes was arrested for guarding explosives that were meant to kill King James I. This day was made to celebrate the failure of the attempt to kill the king. In the painting you see a man in the middle that is being cheered and praised, but it is definitely not the king. Is this the man Guy Fawke? Maybe William Witherington is trying to say that the people actually wanted the king to die and he is showing this by having Guy Fawke praised in the street of his painting. On the other hand, could this be the man that stopped the assassination attempt. The use of line is easy to spot in this painting. Men, women, and children point in the direction of the man...
Words: 586 - Pages: 3
...Medieval Europe Gunpowder changed wartime forever. The medieval times where also called the Middle Ages. This was the time of knights, castles, and jousts.Also in the is time gunpowder was very useful because it had just started being used for war. The Middle Ages took place in 500 AD-1500 AD. The Middle Ages were a time of war and men had to be completely devoted to it. In this time some of the most brutal and bloodiest battles were fought. Most battles in this time were bloody,because you would have to get up close and personal to attack, unlike battles today which are less gory because we try to stay away from the threat. The Crusades also occurred in this time period and were a horrible time. The crusades were military campaigns controlled by the Latin Roman Catholic Church. They started in 1095 and the goal was to restore Christian access to Holy places in and around Jerusalem. During this time artillery was very important.They used many weapons such as swords, pikes, spears, and axes. These weapons were used by many foot soldiers. They were used to take out...
Words: 1005 - Pages: 5
...We will be exploring the gunpowder weapons and how the use of these weapons changed the balance of power in warfare, transforming global history by leading to a period of dominance by Western European powers. I will be comparing European, Russian, Islamic, Chinese, and Japanese uses of gunpowder weapons and explore how these powers fit guns into their political, military, and cultural systems. One of the recurring things in history is the nature of nations and empires. Civilizations are born, reach their potential under extraordinary leaders, and over time lose their vitality and strength. The remarkable feature in this cycle is that new civilizations emerge out of there fallen leaders, regenerated by new leaders and by outside cultural influences, often resulting in cultural power. Such were the circumstances under which the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires emerged between 1300 and 1650. Coming on the heels of the Mongol and Timurid conquests in Southwest Asia and Anatolia, new Muslim dynasties began the process of extending their realms with military might enhanced by the use of gunpowder weaponry. Conquering an empire is not the same as establishing imperial authority, and the rulers of the new empires faced a monumental task in establishing an effective governing structure for their domains. Built upon the foundations of preexisting cultural ideas, the most outstanding emperors realized that the vitality of their empires required a considerable degree of toleration...
Words: 947 - Pages: 4
